Business: More Must Be Done to Protect the Internet as a World Resource (February 25, 2013)

February 25, 2013

Business: More Must Be Done to Protect the Internet as a World Resource

At the opening of the first World Summit on the Information Society +10 Review meeting at UNESCO headquarters in Paris today, business representatives appealed to all stakeholder groups within the Internet governance community to do more to protect and strengthen the Internet as it is today.

The International Chamber of Commerce and its BASIS (Business Action to Support the Information Society) initiative used the event to highlight the importance of formulating policy that supports the free flow of information online. This encourages freedom of expression and creates the right conditions for open trade as well as investment in the Internet and the applications and services that run on it, as a path to future global economic growth and social progress, especially through education and learning.

Jean-Guy Carrier, secretary general of the International Chamber of Commerce, addressed the gathering, which marke4d the 10th anniversary of the UN’s World Summit on the Information Society.

Addressing the multiple stakeholder groups present at the event, including ministers and high-level governmental officials, heads of intergovernmental organizations, senior business executives, Internet technical community leaders and civil society, industry representatives urged that more be done to ensure the permanence of a free, fair and open Internet characterized by the free flow of information.

USCIB Vice President Barbara Wanner attended the meeting and served as the ICC-BASIS rapporteur on multi-stakeholder principles. USCIB member companies made important contributions in a number of topical sessions at the review event, including eLearning (Microsoft), promoting freedom of expression and privacy on the Internet (Google), cultural and linguistic diversity (Disney), and avoiding e-waste (HP).